Literature

Dr. Rebecca Martin has been an English major from start to finish. Growing up, she loved to read in school and on her spare time. Her family has lived in many parts of the world including Italy, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and Louisiana. Her parents were devoted readers and, although they didn’t graduate from college, they instilled the importance of education to Rebecca. The values her parents taught have stuck with her.

In high school Dr. Martin discovered that she was interested in archaeology, history, and environmental studies. When she started college in the 70’s, archaeology wasn’t a popular major. For her love of reading, she went into college as an English major. Surprisingly, she said she didn’t encounter people telling her studying English wasn’t a real major or there isn’t enough jobs to get with an English degree except for teaching.

Discovering her passion

While studying English, Dr. Martin imagined she would eventually be a teacher. She still continued to take courses she thought would spark her interest in other parts of studying literature. That’s where she found her love in 18th century gothic novel; it was literature she had never read before, and her professor made the class more intriguing. She got her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma.

From there she knew her passion was to learn more. She went on to get her Master’s at the University of Idaho and her Ph.D. in English at the University of Iowa. Dr. Rebecca Martin came to Pace as an adjunct professor where she taught for twenty years. She became assistant dean for fifthteen years in Dyson College.

Her advice for students with English majors is to remember that college is a time to try out new ideas: “There’s not a high price to pay from taking a course you didn’t like instead of having a job you discover you didn’t like.” She also says that that “studying english is to get personal gain, substance, and increasing knowledge.”

Teaching students

As Dr. Rebecca Martin continues to teach film and literature courses here at Pace University, she believes it’s important to teach students more than just the content in the class. Students should think critically, think analytically, and think more because it helps all of us. That way students can apply those skills outside of class, going beyond the most obvious meanings of what you see and asking “why are these images being used, why was this language chosen and why is it being told this way?”.

Dr. Martin wants to teach students to be more engaged in life and the questions we should be asking so that we can live to our fullest potentials.

Professor Liberatore is the mother of an adorable one and a half year old, loves to cook, and enjoys hiking with fellow mothers when she has some down time. She absolutely loves to read literature where she, “can enter that other world” and loves to uncover the hidden meaning behind the writings, like piecing together a puzzle.

At Pace, Professor Liberatore teaches courses such as English 110, 120, and 201. In these classes, she teaches her students how to write formal essays and critically analyze formal pieces of writing. She assigns journal style homework assignments and multiple readings from the textbook that are due each class to strengthen her students’ reading and writing skills.

Professor Liberatore was always fond of English classes. She always enjoyed reading and took a couple of AP/ honors classes in High School. But, believe it or not, going into college, she enrolled as a biology major! In fact, Liberatore did not switch her major until the end of her sophomore year in college when she realized her heart was not set on going to medical school. She simply could not see herself working in that field for the rest of her life.

“So I took a couple of English classes and ended up switching majors, then I got a Master’s degree in English, and here I am!” Liberators says with a smile.

Greatest Accomplishments

In the fall semester that Professor Liberatore changed her major, she was enrolled in a course called Eighteenth Century Novels. Liberatore says that this class is her best memory of English, although the course was the most challenging she had ever encountered. “She (her professor) was tough as nails… the class was not an easy A and I had to hold myself to a higher standard,” considering the extremely strict and “brutal” grading policy. Even so, this most certainly did not discourage Liberatore. The teacher’s harsh way of grading motivated her and she was “determined” to work diligently throughout the class. In the end, she did not ace the course. However, it really showed her how dedicated she was to declaring an English major.

Along with that fond memory, her all-time favorite class she took in college was a Narcissistic Literature Seminar. “That absolutely affected me and I ended up doing my Master’s thesis on that,” Liberatore says proudly. Her thesis was forty-seven pages long and it is obviously a prominent piece in her career. It truly was a work that she is triumphant about and it gave her a sense ,of empowerment in the major she chose. She tells current English majors to,

“stay passionate about it because, it is really easy to feel boggled down in the analysis and the really rudimentary parts of it, but always remember why you gravitated towards it.”

In the classroom:

Liberatore loves to challenge her brain when she reads works of literature: “I get a satisfaction from figuring out what I read… lately I have been reading the classics, greek mythology, Dante’s Inferno.”

She also brings this aspect of solving problems and dedication to all of her classes. Liberatore states that she taught a Literature 102 class at Westchester Community College, where the students hardly showed up, were not connected, and could not care less about the due dates of assignments. “This was a real struggle to me as Professor… because they would show no enthusiasm for pieces of literature that I loved- I started to dread the class because it was like pulling teeth,” she stated, but then she went on to explain that this is why she loves teaching:

“I like all my classes for different reasons and every group of students is like a new combination.”

Liberatore enjoys figuring out and connecting with students to share her love of writing with them. “My students make the experience- not me as much,” she humbly states.

As one of her students, I must say that Professor Liberatore does in fact do everything in her power to motivate and push her students to get the best grades possible and get them involved and intrigued in what she is teaching in the classroom. She makes the class interactive and leaves it up to the students to take what they can out of this course—a truly inspiring professor.

After graduating from college with an undergraduate degree in Psychology and English and a minor in Education, Doctor Leslie Soodak knew she wanted to work with people and policies. Right after graduation she obtained her masters in special education.

Dr. Soodak’s first job was with United Cerebral Palsy where she worked to deinstitutionalize Willowbrook Developmental Center, a housing institution for individuals with mental disabilities. The fight to deinstitutionalize was because many children living at Willowbrook were recommended by doctors to be placed there despite not having any significant disabilities.

After 10 years Dr. Soodak returned to school to get her doctorate in Psychology. Dr. Soodak currently works as a professor in the School of Education where her favorite course to teach is one on special education. She loves that through this course she is able to “discover people’s perspectives on individuals with disabilities and hopefully enrich their knowledge in that area.”

The Importance of Reading and Writing

Reading and writing are two very important things in Dr. Soodak’s life. She can distinctly remember her favorite expository writing course she took during her undergraduate studies. She said the course required her to write constantly, and by doing so she was able to really understand herself and her writing. The class was small and a safe place for her to truly open up and express herself. She shared her opinion that “if you cannot comfortably relay information and express yourself then you are really at a disadvantage.” Dr. Soodak holds the firm belief that reading and writing are key in almost anything we do.

Dr. Soodak’s Words of Advice

In terms of the English path, Dr. Soodak’s first piece of advice is to stay on it! She expresses the need to look at information on a broader sense and consider more ways of communicating.

Dr. Soodak recognizes that the field has gone much more in the way of nonfiction and factual information; however, she has hopes that this generation will be able to bring back the love of reading and writing for pleasure.

Robert Mundy is an Assistant Professor of English and Writing Program Administrator at Pace University. He has previously worked at SUNY Old Westbury as a Writing Center Professional. Robert attended Stony Brook University, CUNY Graduate Center, and St. John’s University, where he studied both Comp/Rhetoric and Gender Studies. His research focuses on composition, writing centers, and gender/masculinity studies.

Rob is currently working on a coedited/coauthored book project that considers the relationship between public controversies and private identities in the Writing Center. Some of his recent publications include “’I Got It’: Intersections, Performances, and Rhetoric of Masculinity in the Center” and “No Homo: Toward an Intersection of Sexuality and Masculinity for Working-Class Men.”

The Lingua Franca

Q: So, what sparked your interest in English?

A: Hmmm, where to begin? I guess I have always been creative and outspoken. I mention both characteristics because that is how I understand myself as a writer and the writing I try to develop—equal parts creativity and voice. Entering college, I wasn’t all that sure what I was supposed to be doing—what was the purpose of this venture. A bit lost, I gravitated to what I knew—the stories I had written in my journals, poems I had penned to girls I never had the nerve to talk with, my fears and sorrow. Looking back on those days, I studied English because something inside of me said that these were my people—that they felt what I felt, saw what I saw, and had neuroses like I have.

Q: How did you find your passion?

A: Much of my desire to write extends from a need to challenge the status quo. From the beginning, though, I wrote as a means to figure it all out—to discover who I am and why I feel the way that I do. As a researcher, I have taken up conversations my brother and I have had over the years to better understand the complexities of gender. Although I often think about the larger sociocultural and socioeconomic issues we as people face—I tend to start with me. Man, that sound narcissistic.

Q: Which leads me to my next question. Do you have any advice for students who are very unsure of what they want to do with their lives? When did you decide to commit your life to teaching and what passion or circumstance drove that commitment?

A: I wish I had a profound story to tell. I write and teach because that is what I do. In truth, I am a one-trick pony. This is all that I am really good at – all I ever really wanted to do. I think Bukowski said it: “Find what you love and let it kill you” – that has always been my approach.

Q: That’s an interesting outlook that I hope not only I can learn from but others as well. Knowing your passions, did people discourage you in your choice of majors?

A: My parents were just happy we, my brother and I, went to college. I’m not sure they understood the whole design (as I just noted about myself), either. All they understood was that we needed to go if we were to be successful.

Q: Was English/Education your first choice, or were there other options you considered?

A: As an undergrad – yes. As I graduate student, I wanted to paint. Mom said no. She couldn’t imagine how I could survive as a painter.

Help Along the Way

Q: So, passion is certainly a factor but what helped you along the way? Do you have any idols?

A: When I started to identify as a writer, as a much younger man, I remember replacing my Michael Jordan poster with one of Jack Kerouac. So, I tend to turn to old Jack for such an answer. As a man and a writer, he spoke to me in way few others have. Musicians have also inspired me – the Joe Strummers, Patti Smiths, and Jim Carrolls of the world. Richard Hell is pretty cool – and my inner 7-year-old wants to say Paul Stanley from KISS.

Q: What’s your best memory of an English class? Why?

A: Missy Bradshaw – Stony Brook University – “Deconstructing the Diva.” She first introduced me to Michel Foucault (French philosopher, theorist). His work blew my mind, and I suddenly realized, as I noted before, that English is bigger than I had ever imagined. For the first time, I was beginning to see the sociological side of writing. English was no longer the “classics” for me. Looking back, that was a big moment, as I never returned to the “traditional” English that first brought me to the college.

Q: Was there a particular faculty person who influenced you? In what way?

A: Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with some truly brilliant people. I noted Missy before – but Harry Denny, my dissertation director, really influenced me as a man, teacher, and writer. Together we have published a bunch of writing together – the book I mentioned and a book chapter called “No Homo.” Presently we are working on an article about masculinity and sexuality. Harry was my greatest teacher and supporter. He taught me just about all that I know about my job – from how to be a leader to how to be a good colleague.

Adding Character to Context

Q: We tackled some of the reasons you decided to pursue English in education and in life, but let’s add a little more context to that. What are some interests and hobbies you enjoy?

A: I play a good amount of basketball. Recently, I got involved in Krav Maga, an Israeli fighting style. I’m not so interested in the fighting, per se – but I need to get into better shape – and walking on the treadmill bores me to tears. Beyond that, I paint, play guitar, bike…

Q: Favorite ninja turtle?

A: Splinter (hope that is acceptable).

Q: (Laughs) Good answer. What are your favorite things to read and to write?

A: I write predominately about gender – namely masculinity – and composition/rhetoric and writing centers. As a reader, I get stuck looking at texts for work most of the time, but when I am free to read for myself, I tend to explore memoirs and graphic novels.

Q: What are some of your greatest accomplishments?

A: I recently coauthored my first book—a text that looks at public controversies and private identities. I could talk about my writing all day, but that is boring. As a kid, I threw a nine-pitch inning once. That was pretty incredible. Three strikes in a row to three consecutive batters.

Q: What is something commonly accepted that you wish would be different?

A: Sexism – homophobia. Man, this could easily turn into a manifesto.

Q: Switching gears, what do you find peaceful or soothing? What eases your mind?

A: I wish I had an answer for you. I would benefit from some peace. I really enjoy watching college basketball, particularly St. John’s University.

Q: Favorite art-form? Song? Movie? Book? Comedian? Actor?

A:

Art: Dadaism

Song: Age of Consent

Movie: Raging Bull

Q: How do you feel about our social and political climate in regards to English majors? Or in regards to college and education in general? Are they under attack?

A: Well, we could talk about that all day, so I’ll just say this: Art seems to be under attack given the present climate (see cuts to the NEA and NEH). And, for me, that is all right. I think that tension was what brought me to the arts. Art, writing, etc. keeps culture honest. When art is at its most vulnerable is when it is most powerful.

Q: “When art is at its most vulnerable is when it is most powerful.” That’s quite a profound statement and one I’ll certainly remember.

Finally, any advice for current English majors?

A: Well, I am not much of an advice guy, but I would say to cast a wide net. I went into my studies thinking that English was “X” and only “X” – but eventually learned the field is much larger than that. Think about what you value and what moves you—how powerful this major truly is. Hmmm – ask questions. We are here as a department to help and support you.